TikTok is a site that is marketed for ages 13+ and is widely used by individuals who are between the ages of 18-35.
With millions of users on the site daily, many different age groups are constantly creating, chatting, communicating, and otherwise using the app for their own amusement.
Is TikTok safe for all ages?
Even though the app is considered to be for ages 13+, many people claim that users should be at least 16 or 17 years old before downloading the app. Much of the content is aimed toward college or young adult humor, which may include profanity or suggestive content.
That is not to say that TikTok is full of bad content. In fact, a good portion of the app is full of wholesome, educational, and fun content!
Parents who are interested in their children’s content should be wary, but not panic over TikTok.
How Old is the Primary Audience on TikTok?
There are over one billion TikTok users on the app since it launched back in 2017, only really gaining popularity in 2019.
This means that there is a huge demographic and a wide audience, basically something for everyone!
The primary audience on TikTok is new and young adults between 18-30 and generally consists of those who are within the same sort of generational pop-culture influence.
Because of this shared age-range and cultural influence, young and new adult, TikTok users tend to enjoy the same sort of music, comedy, and theatrical videos that get posted to the app.
This type of humor is generally college or young adult-aged – this means it may not be appropriate for children under 18.
Something to be aware of, though, is that Tik Tok will monitor your location at all times.
How Old Should You be to Use TikTok?
There are younger audiences on TikTok, some as young as thirteen, who share and view content on the app as well.
This is known to cause issues for those who post content that might include profanity, curse words, or suggestive content. However, the app DOES ban anything that would be considered too adult or R-rated.
Like most apps, TikTok requires parental permission for certain ages to use their program, but to really enjoy the content and relate to the videos being posted; it is generally suggested that you should be within the 18-30 age range.
Many users on TikTok are still in high school as well, but most influential creators and content makers are young adults.
Also, Tik Tok does not own the content you upload.
Can You be Too Old to Join TikTok?
There really isn’t a “too old” stereotype when it comes to TikTok.
While children or those who are younger than 17 years old may accidentally view content that is intended for adults or young adults (which is a problem), those who are older (45+) can definitely get on TikTok and find something that they enjoy!
Mostly, TikTok users will watch anything that they find to be impressive, funny, or interesting. No matter what age you are, as long as your content is “good,” you’ll have viewers.
However, there are older generations on TikTok that tend to be antagonistic to the entire app, using it as a place to preach how they feel about “young people today,” which can cause discontent among TikTok users. In fact, some users have been parents of TikTok users who go onto the app in order to voice concerns, criticize famous content creators, or generally cause trouble.
This will make long-time TikTok users angry, uncomfortable, or cause them to dislike you, your videos, and your channel.
Often this is not the case, though, as many older generations of TikTok users just enjoy the atmosphere or want to be part of something new and exciting! There are even some users that specialize in teaching younger generations cool cooking tips or tricks. Some also share information about their jobs and what it is like working at a major company.
So while there isn’t an age limit or a range, or risk of “being too old” online, if you are only using the app in order to criticize the major demographic, you won’t do very well.
Instead, focus on making something that makes you and people you know happy! If you are working toward bringing smiles to the faces of other TikTok users, you will be welcomed among them!
How Many Grown-Ups Are on TikTok?
According to 2020 statistics, roughly 50% of TikTok users are younger than the age of 35 years old.
Depending on your definition of “grown-up,” there could be millions of TikTok users over the age of 35 on the site. This means that if you are someone over that age, you may be able to find like-minded individuals like yourself on the app, too!
Often these individuals are funny and market to people their own age. They have different opinions on things, and they tend to post once in a while or very often. Many adult users sometimes cook or share recipes, talk about being a parent or about their particular careers.
This means that there is bound to be something on the site that you can enjoy or relate to. Some “grown-ups” on TikTok are even fans of younger content creators because they have such wacky videos, dances, songs, or costumes.
TikTok is a great way to meet and create content for individuals like yourself, or make friends that are completely different from you!
No matter what you do, just remember to be kind and follow the rules and guidelines of the app.
Can You Put Parental Controls on TikTok?
There aren’t parental control options for TikTok, but there are things that you can do in order to try and be part of your child’s user experience on the app.
You can prevent your child from downloading the app until they are a certain age – recommended at 16 or 17 years old – but you can’t really put locks on the app itself.
Instead, the privacy and safety features that the app provides will allow you to prevent strangers or other users from viewing or following your child’s TikTok if they don’t know them. However, these privacy and safety settings aren’t protected or locked away from your child.
Privacy and safety settings are user settings that any TikTok user can change at any time. Even if you set ground rules and put those settings into the app yourself, children can just remove the settings or change them to whatever they want.
Therefore, the short answer is “no,” you cannot ‘parental-control’ the TikTok app, but you can work with your child and make them aware of your concerns and find a good middle ground when using the app.
Should Parents Monitor Kids’ Behavior on TikTok?
If you are a parent who feels that they need to monitor their child’s behavior on the app, just consider asking them not to download it until they are older.
It is highly recommended that the early age of a TikTok user should be at least 16 or 17, even if the app advertises 13+ for their age. However, if your child has downloaded the TikTok app, it may be impossible to always shield them from content that you do not approve of.
For example, TikTok is the type of app that allows you to view hundreds of short-form videos each HOUR. Even if you were to see the videos your child was posting to the app and monitoring the content they produce, it would be impossible to monitor the content they are viewing.
You would have to stare over their shoulder every time they use the app to constantly see what they are viewing.
There is an option to see what videos someone has “liked,” but most of the time, viewing content is a private experience.
Furthermore, if you were to monitor the content your child produced, you would have to get a TikTok or search their username online to see their channel.
However, it should be noted that not all content on TikTok is too mature, negative, or suggestive. There are millions of users that your child could follow that provide wholesome, safe, funny content each and every day!
There are pet videos, cooking challenges, jokes, and even some educational channels on there that wouldn’t be a negative experience for your child to view depending on their age.
Who Owns TikTok, and is it Being Regulated?
TikTok is owned by a company called ByteDance.
The app was formally called Musical.ly and was only semi-popular until its rebranding recently. Since then, TikTok has blown up as the current social media trend out there.
ByteDance does regulate the site and app and makes sure that videos and channels are following their guidelines for proper usage and creation of content.
This means that anything illegal, pornographic, violent, or dangerous is not allowed on the site. If reported, the videos and even the channels can be removed for violation of the guidelines that the app has put forth.
Users are able to report dangerous or negative videos as well, and so the site is constantly being regulated by not only the official developers but fellow watchers and users as well.
Furthermore, the site has guidelines against fraud, scams, catfishing, and other negative or graphic content that parents might be worried about.